A Goodnight Story
by Rose Di Angelo
Summary: I don't know. I wrote this in the middle of the night. Well, Thalia cannot sleep, and Luke tells her an intriguing bedtime story. Set when they first meet Annabeth while they're running away.


**This idea came to me when I was laying on my couch in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep, and I wanted a story or a song to get me to sleep.**

I sat up slowly and pushed my jacket over me. The sun was setting over the houses, but we had settled down for bed an hour ago. Thalia had insisted that nobody take watch, because we both needed our sleep, but I had stayed awake to take first watch. I knew she would be mad if she found out, and that girl could throw a fit, but she couldn't find out, could she?

I set my jacket down slowly so the zipper wouldn't clatter against the sidewalk. I pushed myself to my feet and stepped over my jacket, then crept over to sit next to Thalia. I looked down and saw Thalia's shocking blue eyes staring at me. I sighed. "Go to sleep Thalia," I said. She shook her head and sat up. In the dim light, I saw her freckles and pale face, and her black hair sweeping over her eyes with a few purple highlights.

"You can't take first watch. I told you to go to sleep." Her voice was sharp, and I flinched, ready for a lightning bolt to strike me. "Well, go to sleep and I won't take any watch. I promise. I pinky promise." She giggled, all anger gone, and hooked her pinky around my waiting one. Then her smile disappeared. "I can't go to sleep," she said, laying back down and glaring at me.

I sighed. "Fine then. I'll tell you a bedtime story." She perked up at this idea, the settled down, tugging her ripped jacket over her and staring up at me with excited eyes. "Okay. Here it goes. There was once a boy named Luke. And he met a new boy named Percy. But at the time, Luke was planning to frame Percy for stealing the lightning bolt from Zeus."

I could tell that Thalia was hooked on now. "And then Percy went on this quest, and he got attacked. By Medusa. By Ares! By some crazy people who wanted to take them hostage in a hotel." I heard a small laugh from Thalia, then a yawn. I smiled softly. "Then he got to where they thought the lightning bolt was, and then, a god discovered the lightning bolt!"

I got lost somewhere in my words.

_Percy and his friends were shocked, then they found it out later. Luke was the one who betrayed him. Luke poisoned Percy and Percy almost died, and was sent into a coma as Luke left the camp and escaped to help the Dark Lord rise again. Then Percy went on another quest into the Sea of Monsters. He tried to attack the ship that Luke was on, and it worked, though Luke was not defeated._

_After that, Percy went to pick up another demigod. He ended up going on ANOTHER quest, where the demigod's sister died. After that, the demigod wouldn't talk to him, and shouted at him to go away, then went into hiding. Then, Percy went on ANOTHER quest were he found the demigod, and the demigod went around to forgiving Percy. And they ended up being friends._

_Then, Percy faced a terrible war. His best friend almost die__d. Then, Luke died. Then, his best friend became his girlfriend. The-**SNORE. **_

I snapped back to the present when I heard Thalia snore. I nodded, satisfied with myself and crawled back to my own jacket, curling under it and wondering why I had made that up. Thoughts whirled into my head until I mapped out the story of a hero. And then I felt something-a strong sense of a demigod nearby. I didn't know what it was, but it was like I was a monster.

I heard a rattling in the trashcans sitting in the ally, and I sat straight up, all thoughts about Percy Jackson gone. "Who's there?" I yelled. I slipped my knife from my pocket and stood, looking around. A small girl emerged from the trash, her gray eyes wide. She held up her hands in a fighting position. "I-I'm not afraid to fight you!" she sad. "G-go away!"

She brushed yellow hair out of her eyes and looked up at me fearfully. I heard the rustling of a jacket, and Thalia was at my side in an instant. "Monster?" she whispered. "No, no," I said. "I think she's just lost. Or...a demigod?" I knelt down in front of her. "Hey, little girl. I'm Luke and this is Thalia. What's your name?" The little girl ran her hands through her hair, all fear gone.

She straightened up and planted her feet. "My name's Annabeth and my mom's Athena." I smiled. "Good. My dad is Hermes, and Thalia's dad is Zeus." Annabeth nodded. "I'm tired," she said suddenly. She sat down on the ground. "Tell me a bedtime story." I sighed and sat down in front of her. "Well, there was once this sixth grader named Percy Jackson, and..."


End file.
